This disclosure relates generally to the field of fuel cells, and more particularly to a fuel cell system and a method for controlling the fuel cell system.
Fuel cells are an electro-chemical device that make use of electro-chemical reaction between a fuel, such as hydrogen, and an oxidizer, such as oxygen contained in the surrounding air, to generate electrical power. The fuel cells are advantageous in low contamination, high efficiency and high power density. Thus, developments and researches are intensively devoted to the fuel cell field for exploitation of the utilization thereof. A variety of fuel cells are available, among which proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is the most prospective one due to the advantages of low operation temperature, fast activation and high power density with respect to unit weight and volume.
However, it is known that the fuel cell will deteriorate with time when operated over an extended period of time. The degradation of the fuel cell includes faulty electrical contacts, cracks in electrolyte plates, coating faults, material faults, leakage, increased internal resistance, flooding or drying in membrane and etc. Factors affecting the life of the fuel cell may include geometrical design, material design, process flow design and operating control design. How to reduce the degradation of the fuel cell and prolong the life of the fuel cell by operation control is still a challenge.